VZ Stock Slips As Verizon Reportedly Plans New Round Of Layoffs

• The nation's largest wireless carrier plans to announce a fresh round of job cuts on Thursday morning, marking its third wave of layoffs under current leadership.
• The staff reductions are part of CEO Daniel Schulman's goal to slash $5 billion in 2026 operating expenses to offset declining market share.
• The job cuts come alongside a drop in capital expenditures, a recent $20-billion acquisition of Frontier Communications, and an increased reliance on AI to lower customer service costs. 

Verizon Communications (VZ) share price eased about 0.6% on Tuesday amid a media report stating the telecom provider is preparing to implement a new wave of employee layoffs this week

The nation's largest wireless provider is expected to brief staff and officially announce the workforce reductions on Thursday morning, according to an exclusive report by Barron's. While an employee confirmed the upcoming cuts, the precise number of impacted workers remains unverified.

Aggressive Cost-Cutting Under New Leadership

Daniel Schulman, since stepping into the chief executive role in October 2025, has placed a heavy emphasis on trimming the carrier’s operating budget. This week's impending layoffs follow a historical staff reduction of 13,000 employees in November 2025, which was the largest in Verizon's history, as well as a subsequent round of cuts in May of this year. 

In a January earnings call, Schulman outlined an ambitious target to slash $5 billion from Verizon's 2026 operating expenses, signaling that a major share of these savings would be achieved through head count reductions. 

Verizon entered 2026 with an estimated workforce of 89,900 employees.

Tech Integration And Corporate Reorganization

To combat these headwinds, Verizon has initiated several changes, including an increased reliance on artificial intelligence to handle customer service interactions. According to Schulman, the use of AI has successfully reduced operational costs while bolstering customer satisfaction.

Additionally, the carrier has tightened its capital expenditure guidance for the year to a range of $16 billion to $16.5 billion, marking a decline from previous years. This streamlined spending follows Verizon's recent, approximately $20 billion buyout of broadband operator Frontier Communications. Notably, the merger's regulatory terms guarantee a four-year protection period against involuntary layoffs for select Frontier workers.

Verizon’s Upcoming Q2 Earnings 

The news of upcoming cuts lands just over a week before Verizon is set to publish its second-quarter financial results on July 24. During the first quarter, the carrier outperformed investor forecasts by adding a net 55,000 postpaid phone connections. 

For Q1, VZ reported revenue of $34.44 billion, missing estimates of $34.89 billion, while earnings came in at $1.28 per share, beating expectations of $1.21 per share, signaling that cost-saving measures are in place. 

For Q2, the company is expected to report earnings of $1.27 per share with a revenue of $35.23 billion. 

VZ Stock: Retail View 

Retail sentiment on Stocktwits was ‘bearish’ with ‘low’ message volumes. 

VZ stock has gained nearly 5% year-to-date. 

Read More: ANET, CLS, EXTR, LITE Stock In Focus — UBS Sees Data Center Investments To Drive Demand, But Supply Constraints Persist

For updates and corrections, email newsroom[at]stocktwits[dot]com